Furniture Arranging
Plan It Your Way
Furniture arranging makes an impact to the overall feel of your room and makes you feel good in the process.
Consider the shape and size of your room, or if you are
decorating with a baby grand piano
to help determine where to place your furniture.
If your room is long, divide the space by creating two separate major groupings of furniture.
- Use area rugs to anchor the space and square shapes to visually widen the space.
- A long narrow room appears more intimate by placing a focal piece on the short wall.
- Arrange furniture
on the diagonal for narrow spaces and
small room decorating.
For example, a bed or sofa catty corner in the room.
Add visual height to a room with a low ceiling by using long drapery panels, or tall furnishings such as bookcases or plants, which will make the space feel more grand.
In a room with tall ceilings visually create an imaginary line at a normal height and don't allow draperies or tall furniture and art work to venture above this line.
- Incorporate more horizontal lines in the room by using furnishings that have a horizontal "feel" to them as oppose to vertical high pieces. This keeps the attention away from the height.
Identify the focal point to anchor the room.
There should be at least one dramatic element in your
decorating space
that draws your attention, and all of the furniture arranging should take their cue from that one important feature in terms of scale, proportion and balance.
It may be a distinctive architectural element such as a fireplace, a built-in bookcase, or a stunning window with a spectacular view.
If the room doesn't have its own focal point create one with a beautiful piece of furniture, like an armoire.
In the same manner that
entryway furniture
in the foyer is the first thing you see upon entering the home, the focal point of a room is usually on the dominant wall as you first enter. If the space is large there can be more than one focal point.
After the focal point of the room is established, you will want to relate your
room arranging
around it.
Simple furniture arranging guidelines.
- The recommended distance for a sofa from chairs in the same grouping is 4-10 feet.
- For a comfortable amount of leg room, the coffee table should be positioned between 14-18" from the sofa.
- Seating opposite the tv should be three times the size of the screen, for example if the tv has a 30" screen, your seating needs to be 90" away for optimal tv viewing.
- In the dining room a seated adult occupies a depth of about 20" but needs 12-16" more to pull the chair back and rise.
- A rectangular table requires 24" per person and 32-36" of clearance between the table and the wall.
- On the serving side the space needed between the table and the wall is 44".
- The minimum clearance between the edge of the bed and the wall should be 24". In addition allow, at least 36" between the edge of the bed and any door that opens into the room.
- If you place two beds next to each other, maintain at least 18" between them.
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